Georges Rouault (French, 1871-1958) is best known as a painter who in a distinctive outsider manner probed what he called “the hard work of living.” His was a deep identification with the poor and the marginal of society and with an ecology wherein the sun is metaphorically reluctant to light the skies. Yet, he was an artist of hope who saw in the experience of the suffering Christ a mirror of the broad human condition with its many vicissitudes, including depths of faith, humility, courage, and compassion. The exhibition at Rivier focuses not on the paintings, but on Rouault as a printmaker, for it was in his bold drawings, engravings, and aquatints that his religious vision took shape and merged with his maturing artistic purposes. Most of the works shown are from the Miserere series begun in Paris during the somber days of World War I. They are poignant meditations even to this day when the violence of war and terrorism is spreading death and destruction across the globe.

“I do believe that Rouault brilliantly ‘modernized’ religious imagery,” said Sister Theresa Couture, director of the Art Gallery at Rivier University. “In his work, what is timeless becomes specific and the literal becomes metaphoric. This is to say that without anachronism, he lifts iconic images from the traditions of Christian art and gives them meaning, beauty, and emotional appeal that can be fresh even for contemporary audiences that may or may not be steeped in the traditions. “

The exhibition will be accompanied by a Gallery Talk by Sister Marie Couture, pm, Art Historian on Thursday, October 24 at 2:30 P.M.

The gallery is located on the second floor of Memorial Hall and is open Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., and on Fridays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Information about Art Gallery events is available on the website of The Art Gallery at Rivier University atwww.rivier.edu/artgallery.